Pokemon League

Pokemon League

Alright, here it is: the Pokemon League! The final place you need to go in order to secure your spot among the champions.

There's a Pokemon Center to the west, which you'll no doubt appreciate using. You can also buy all sorts of items inside. Make sure you're stocked up with tons of Revives, Hyper Potions, Full Restores, and status healing items.

If you want to give yourself an extra edge, flying back to Shopping Mall Nine on Route 9 is a good idea so you can buy the X items, which raise Pokemon's stats in battle by one stage, depending on which item is used. This can be amazing, particularly with X Defend and X Sp. Def, to help your Pokemon endure hits it wouldn't normally be able to. With 10-15 of each in your inventory, you'll be able to win any fight with enough strategy. X Attacks, X Specials, and X Speeds are also really important, too.

Whenever you're ready, talk to the guy blocking the entrance. He'll tell you that you can't leave until you've beaten the Elite Four and Champion, or until you lose. If you lose, you'll have to fight all of them all over again, so make sure you don't lose!

Inside, you can enter one of four rooms. Each room houses one member of the Elite Four. The bottom-left has Shauntal, the Ghost-type master; the top-left one has Grimsley, the Dark-type master; the top-right one has Caitlin, the Psychic-type master; and the bottom-right one has Marshal, the Fighting-type master.

You'll have to fight them all anyway, but you can fight them in whatever order you want. I'll cover them in the order I listed above, though.

Boss Fight

Elite Four Shauntal

$6960

Cofagrigus

Lv. 56

Drifblim

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Lv. 56

Golurk

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Lv. 56

Chandelure

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Lv. 58

All of Shauntal's Pokemon share a weakness to Dark- and Ghost-type attacks, so if you've got your own Dark-type Pokemon, you'll be set (you can use your own Ghost-type, too, but she'll be super effective against you as well; Ghost-type attacks are a safer option for non-Ghost-types). Water-, Rock-, and Ice-type attacks are also good to consider, as several of her Pokemon are weak to those types.

She'll lead with her Cofagrigus, which is a bit of a pain to take down thanks to its defensive stats. It packs Psychic, Grass Knot, and Shadow Ball for attacking moves, but it loves to start off with Will-O-Wisp to burn you right away, so be wary of that.

Her Drifblim is a new addition to her team from the original Black and White versions. It has a lot of HP, but its attacking stats aren't really the best. You've still gotta be careful, though, because it packs a lot of attacking moves. Acrobatics and Shadow Ball will hit the hardest, but it also has Thunderbolt and Psychic for some extra type coverage.

Golurk is a big ol' ghost golem thing, and it has several attacking moves. The all-powerful Earthquake is what you really want to watch out for. Heavy Slam (Steel-type attack) also hits really hard since Golurk is heavy, plus it has Shadow Punch and Brick Break to back it up.

Lastly, she uses her Chandelure. This thing has outrageously high Special Attack, so be careful! Its Fire Blast hits very, very hard, but Shadow Ball will also hit very hard as well. It has Grass Knot and Psychic just for some extra coverage. Try to hit it as quickly as possible, though since it does have some fair defenses, you may still have to suffer a hit. A solid super effective attack should be enough to take it out, though.

Boss Fight

Elite Four Grimsley

$6960

Liepard

Lv. 56

Scrafty

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Lv. 56

Krookodile

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Lv. 56

Bisharp

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Lv. 58

All of Grimsley's Pokemon have a weakness to Fighting-type attacks, so that's definitely what you'll want to use against him. If you don't have any, though, just muscle through with your strongest attacks — well, you know, other than Psychic-type attacks. Bug-type attacks may be good against Dark-type Pokemon, but most of his have a type that offers a resistance to Bug, so it won't be as effective as you'd think.

He'll lead with his Liepard, and this thing loves to use Fake Out on the first turn to force you to flinch. This is a good time for you to use an X Defend to give your lead Pokemon some extra defenses not just against Liepard, but against the rest of his Pokemon. The rest of its attacks won't hit so hard, but it does have Attract to potentially cause some trouble for your male Pokemon. It's very frail and shouldn't take any difficulty to take out.

The Scrafty, on the other hand, is not so frail. This thing has a lot of defensive power. Thankfully, it doesn't pack its most deadly attack: Hi Jump Kick. Instead, it uses Brick Break and Crunch to damage you with, while it also has Poison Jab and Rock Tomb to mix things up.

His Krookodile, though, packs Intimidate to lower your Attack, plus it has some powerful moves. Earthquake is the one you've gotta worry most about, but Crunch and even Dragon Claw can hit very hard. Rock Tomb is laughable power-wise, but lowering your Speed can be a problem.

Lastly, he uses his Bisharp, which is a Dark/Steel-type Pokemon. A single Fighting-type attack will take it out without any issue, but Fire- and Ground-type are also a very good choice against it. It doesn't have the best of attacks, but Night Slash and Metal Claw will hit fairly hard. Aerial Ace and X-Scissor are just thrown in for good measure.

Boss Fight

Elite Four Caitlin

$6960

Musharna

Lv. 56

Sigilyph

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Lv. 56

Reuniclus

Lv. 56

Gothitelle

Lv. 58

Caitlin's Pokemon are all Psychic-type, and most of them are pure-Psychic-type. Dark-, Ghost-, and Bug-type attacks are definitely your best bet against them. Otherwise, just try to muscle through them the best as possible. Her Psychics are all of the bulky variety (except one), meaning they may take even a super effective hit without fainting.

Musharna loves to annoy you. It's got Reflect to half the damage of your Physical-based attacks for a couple of turns, while Yawn will put you to sleep at the end of the following turn unless you switch out, so sometimes switching out is your better option (or just using an Awakening/Full Heal on the following turn). Dream Eater will do some good damage and also heal it afterwards, so don't let it do that. The only other move it has is Charge Beam, which, if left unchecked, can raise its Special Attack in an annoying way.

Her Sigilyph is the exception to her pack of bulky Psychics, as this thing has alright defensive stats and all, but it's certainly the frailest of the bunch, plus it has a lot more weaknesses. Ice-, Rock-, and Electric-type attacks also work very well against it, but it does lose its weakness to Bug. It is the fastest of her Pokemon, though, and will love to unload Psychic on you for good damage. Shadow Ball, Air Slash, and, scarily enough, Ice Beam are all other attacks it has in its arsenal.

Reuniclus has a ton of Special Attack and will hit pretty hard with any of its attacks. Psychic is the most obvious threat it has, but it also has Focus Blast to spell trouble for any of your Dark-type Pokemon looking to take advantage of its Psychic-type. Energy Ball is thrown in for good measure, while Recover can heal it up. It doesn't have any effective options against Ghost- or Bug-type Pokemon, so they're your best bet.

Lastly, she'll send out her Gothitelle, which loves to get set up by using Calm Mind to raise its Special Attack and Special Defense by one stage. From there, she'll unleash powerful Psychic, Shadow Ball, and Thunderbolt attacks. Try to take it out as quickly as possible, and with Physical-based attacks if you can, otherwise her streak of Calm Minds could prove fatal.

Boss Fight

Elite Four Marshal

$6960

Throh

Lv. 56

Sawk

Lv. 56

Mienshao

Lv. 56

Conkeldurr

Lv. 58

Marshal's team of Fighting-types all pack a punch, so you've gotta be careful. Thankfully, they're all pure-Fighting-type, meaning you can take them down with the same attacks and be fine. Psychic- and Flying-type attacks are what you'll want to use against them, but you've gotta be careful, particularly using Flying-type Pokemon, because they've got a solution to them.

He'll lead with his Throh, which is very bulky and more than ready to take a hit. It's got Storm Throw to hit for some damage and then force you to switch out afterwards. Rock Tomb will hit your Flying-type Pokemon for extra damage; it's a weak attack by nature, so it shouldn't be enough to knock them out, but it will lower their Speed, which can be a problem. It also has Bulldoze to lower the foe's Speed along with Payback to hit for a lot of damage if it attacks last (which it often does), plus it's a Dark-type attack, meaning Psychic-type Pokemon have to be careful.

His Sawk is similar, but it will quite often use Retaliate after you've knocked out one of his Pokemon to hit for some extra damage. Make sure you're healed when it comes out. Otherwise, it has Brick Break instead of Throh's Storm Throw, which will hit for some decent damage, and then it also has Throh's Rock Tomb and Payback, which pose the same threats, except with more Speed and Attack power. Sawk also has Sturdy, which means you won't be able to knock it out in one hit, so be ready to endure one of its attacks.

Mienshao is a definite threat to watch out for, because it has high Speed and high Attack, plus it's got the powerful Hi Jump Kick to hit for massive damage. If you can outspeed it and use Fly or Dig (or if you have Protect), it'll miss and receive 50% of its max HP in recoil damage, making the fight much easier. Like Sawk, it has Retaliate to avenge a fallen comrade, but it also packs U-Turn for switching out to something else and Bounce just to be weird.

Last up is his Conkeldurr. This thing has a ton of Attack and Defense, but its Bulk Up attack only makes that even more of a problem for you to take down, raising each by one stage. Hammer Arm will hit very hard, but lowers its Speed afterwards — but its Speed is already so low anyway that it doesn't even matter. Stone Edge is a dangerous attack, particularly if you're using Flying-type Pokemon, so be careful around it. Retaliate also hits hard right off the bat if you just got done knocking out one of his Pokemon.

Pokemon League Champion

After beating all four of the Elite Four, you'll be able to take the platform in the center down. Once you're down there, climb up the steps and into the pantheon, where you'll have to fight against the Pokemon League Champion: Iris!

Boss Fight

Champion Iris

$11800

Hydreigon

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Lv. 57

Aggron

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Lv. 57

Lapras

/

Lv. 57

Druddigon

Lv. 57

Archeops

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Lv. 57

Haxorus

Lv. 59

Iris' team is fairly well-rounded, although has a lot of tough Dragon-type Pokemon on her team. Ice-type attacks are definitely the way to go against her, but Dragon-, Electric-, and Fighting-type attacks also have their uses.

She leads with her fearsome Hydreigon, which packs a wallop! It's a Dark/Dragon-type, giving it only a single weakness to Ice, but also giving it a weakness to Dragon-, Fighting-, and Bug-type attacks. It has a very wide selection of moves to fight you with: Dragon Pulse hits everything that isn't part-Steel-type for a lot of damage, while Flamethrower and Surf help provide some type coverage. Charge Beam is another attack up its sleeve that can raise its already massive Special Attack even higher, so be very careful not to let it get pull it off!

Her Aggron is a bulky Pokemon with a ton of Attack and an absolute mountain of Defense. Special-based attacks are really the only way to go against it. It has both Earthquake and Rock Slide to deal some heavy damage, while its Double-Edge attack will not suffer from recoil damage thanks to its Rock Head ability. Autotomize raises its Speed by two stages and also lowers its weight, meaning Grass Knot and Low Kick will do less to it. A solid Water-type attack like Surf is your best bet against it, despite it being extremely weak to Fighting-type attacks (that's still another good route, but its super high Defense will mean only the strongest Fighting-type attacks will be one-hit knock outs).

Lapras is a threat, particularly if you're using your own Dragon-types against her, because it packs Ice Beam. Surf will also hit for a lot of damage, while Thunderbolt completes a pretty beautiful selection of attacks. Be wary of what it might hit you with. Sing, while inaccurate, is also capable of putting you to sleep, which can really mess with your plans. It has plenty of weaknesses, though: Electric-, Grass-, Fighting-, and Rock-type attacks will all be super effective against it. Pretty much anything that isn't Water- or Ice-type will do alright, too.

Her Druddigon packs both the Sheer Force ability and the Life Orb, meaning its attacks are going to hit super hard, but it'll take 1/10th of its HP in recoil damage each time it damages you. Dragon Claw is the most obvious threat, while Rock Slide, Flamethrower, and even Focus Blast are all still options. A Water-type Pokemon packing an Ice-type attack will have no trouble taking it out, but keep Ice-types on guard, because both Focus Blast and Rock Slide spell trouble for it.

Her Archeops is a very fast, powerful Pokemon with stats reaching legendary status. Its Attack is through the roof! However, the major downside to its awesome strength is its ability, Defeatist, which halves its Attack and Special Attack when its HP falls below 50%, rendering it much weaker. Try to get it down to 50% as quickly as possible, but be careful not to get it too weak (in the red), otherwise Iris will just use a Full Restore and you'll have to start fresh against it. It packs Acrobatics for massive damage, plus Rock Slide and Dragon Claw for additional support. Endeavor will do enough damage to effectively give both your Pokemon and Archeops the same amount of HP, if yours has more HP, so that's it's exit strategy if you get its HP too low.

Last, but not least, is her Haxorus, which is two levels higher than any of her other Pokemon. Haxorus has massive Attack power plus some respectable Speed. The rest of its stats are all pretty good, too, plus it has the Focus Sash, which will prevent it from being knocked out in one hit if its HP are full when it's damaged. She'll likely heal up afterwards with a Full Restore, too. For moves, it has Dual Chop to hit you twice with a Dragon-type attack, Earthquake for some powerful damage, and then, oddly enough, X-Scissor. It's capable of using Dragon Dance, though, which raises its Attack and Speed by one stage each, and if it uses that even once, it could have enough power and speed to rip your team apart, so avoid letting it pull it off if you can! Burning it with Will-O-Wisp is a decent idea, plus it will disable her Focus Sash, but Iris can always heal it with a Full Restore.

After you've beaten Iris, you'll be crowned the new Pokemon League Champion! Woohoo!

You'll be guided into the Hall of Fame, where your team will be recorded, and where your game will be saved prior to showing the game's credits.

Before you reach the credits, though, you'll unlock Challenge Mode if you're playing Black 2 or Easy Mode if you're playing White 2. Challenge Mode increases the difficulty of all of the Trainers in the game, giving them higher levels and often times more Pokemon they use; Easy Mode is the opposite, lowering their levels and making for an easier experience. You can switch through these modes whenever you want by going to the Unova Link option in the main menu at the title screen.

Not only that, but you can send your keys to other versions of the game, even brand new versions, so you can effectively start a new game on a different version on Challenge Mode or Easy Mode to make the game more or less challenging, depending on which key you send. (You can even send the Challenge Mode Key to White 2 and the Easy Mode Key to Black 2.)

Alright, well let the credits roll, and then get ready to do some more exploring in the post-game of Black 2 and White 2!